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SERMON 


ON    THE 


CHARACTER,  THE  COMMISSION,  AKD  THE  MESSAGE 


OP    TH£ 


GOSPEL  MINISTRY'. 

DELIVERED   AT    THE    OPENING    Of   A 

General  Convention  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 

Ift  St.  Paul's  Church,  in  the  City  of  Baltimore, 
on  the  iSth  t)ay  of  May,  A.  D.  1808. 


BY  THE  RIGHT  REVEREND 

WILLIAM  WHITE,  D.  D. 

iilSHOP    or    THE    PROTESTANT    EPISCOPAL    CHURCH    IN 
THE   COMMONWEALTH    OE    PENNSYLVANIA. 


NEW-YORK: 

'niNTtD  Br   T.  y  7.  SWOUDS, 
W«.  160  Pcarl-streer. 


1808 


In  General  Convention  of  the  Frotestant  Episcopnl  Church  in  tie  United  States 
of  America,  at  Baltimore. 

House  of  Clerical  and  Lay  Deputies,  Wednesday,  May  18,  1803,  A.  M. 

"  On  motion,  Resolved  unanimously.  That  the  thanks  of  the  Conven- 
tion be  returned  to  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  White  for  his  sermon  preached 
before  the  Convention  this  morning,  and  that  he  be  requested  to  furnish  a 
copy  for  publication. 

"  The  House  of  Bishops  concurred  in  this  resolution,  and  informed  this 
House  that  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  White  would  furnish  a  copy  of  his  ser- 
mon for  the  purpose  aforesaid." 

Extract  from  the  journals. 

;OHN  HENRY  HOB  ART,  Secretary 
of  the  House  of  Clerical  and  Liy  Dtf>:ttirs 


A    SERMON 


2  CORINTHIANS  v.  20. 

Now  then  we  are  ambassadors  for  Christ,  as  though  God 
did  beseech  you  by  us ;  we  pray  you  in  Christ* s  stead,  be 
ye  reconciled  to  God, 

XT  may  seem  inconsistent,  that  the  Apostle  appears  to 
address  the  members  of  the  Church  of  Corinth,  as  if,  at  the 
time  of  his  writing  this  epistle,  they  stood  in  need  of  the 
reconciliation  spoken  of.  Certainly,  the  sentiment  does  not 
seem  agreeable  to  the  usual  manner  of  St.  Paul,  in  his  epis- 
tles to  the  churches ;  for,  however  he  may  have  occasion  to 
set  things  in  order  among  them,  in  some  respects;  and  even 
to  reprove  them  in  others ;  yet  he  acknowledges  them, 
under  the  name  of  "  Saints,"  or  of  the  "  elect  of  God,"  or 
of  "  the  sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus ;"  or  in  some  such  de- 
scription of  the  Christian  character.  The  last  of  these  ex- 
pressions is  applied  by  him  to  the  Corinthians,  in  his  former 
epistle.  In  the  epistle  now  before  us,  he  considers  them 
as  "  partakers  with  him  in  the  sufferings  and  in  the  con- 
solations" of  the  Christian  calling;  and,  in  a  strong  figure, 
he  tells  them,  *'  ye  are  the  Epistle  of  Christ,  written,  not 
with  ink,  but  with  the  spirit  of  the  living  God."  Why  then, 
it  may  be  said,  does  he  address  them  in  the  text  as  if  they 
were  still  "  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins  ;"  and  accordingly 
had  still  need  of  "  the  ministry  of  reconcihation  ?" 

This  difficulty  is  done  away,  by  the  fidelity  with  which 
the  translators  of  the  Bible  have  noted  in  italic  characters 
such  words  as  tliey  did  not  find  in  the  original ;  but  which ^ 
ihey  thought  might  be  usefully  added  for  amplification.    The 
word  "you,"  t'.vice  used  in  the  text,  is  printed  in  italics: 


{  *  ) 

and  if,  by  a  »08t  strict  translation,  we  omit  it,  the  effect 
of  the  alteration  will  be  a  description  to  the  Corinthians  in- 
deed, of  the  gospel  ministr\' ;  but  the  speaking  of  its  mes- 
sage, as  addressed  to  unbelieving  and  to  apostate  persons. 
For  then  the  reading  will  be — *'  As  though  God  did  beseech 
by  us,  and  we  pray  in  Christ's  stead" — meaning,  we  beseech 
and  pray  those  who  are  strangers  to  the  covenant  of  pro- 
mise, "  be  ye  reconciled  to  God." 

I  have  introduced  what  I  think  a  just  criticism,  merely 
because  it  makes  the  text  in  form,  as  it  is,  according  to 
either  translation,  in  matter,  agreeable  to  the  general  tenor 
of  holy  writ.  And  I  shall  consider  the  words  as  setting  be- 
fore us  the  following  particulj^rs  concerning  Gospel  i^i'misters : 

I.  Their  characters. 

II.  Their  commission. 

III.  Their  message. 

1.  We  have  here  the  character  of  Gospel  Ministers;  which 
15,  indeed,  involved  in  the  second  head  proposed :  and  my 
only  reason  for  making  it  a  separate  branch  of  this  discourse, 
is  to  say  a  few  words  to  vindicate  from  reproach  the  title 
thus  given  to  the  Ministers  of  Christ.  For  it  has  been  a  fa- 
vourite topic  of  infidelity,  to  represent  this  title  as  a  cover  of 
spiritual  pride  i  which,  taken  in  connection  with  the  stain 
of  that  black  passion  sometimes  defiling  the  clerical  pro- 
fession, may  make  it  the  dictate  of  mistaken  modesty  in  the 
minister  of  Christ,  to  decline  a  dignity  with  which  he  is 
vested  by  the  word  of  God. 

Z-et  it  then  be,  in  the  first  place,  remarked,  that  arro- 
gancy,  where  it  exists,  has  its  origin  in  causes  \try  distinct 
from  mere  names;  and  that  where  those  causes  lurk,  there 
are  no  names  wliich  may  not  be  a  cover  of  their  baseness. 
What  name  more  humble  than  that  of  servant  of  servants  ? 
And  yet  it  has  been  l)ome  by  those  who  have  trampled  on 
the  sovereignties  of  kings  and  states,  and  usurped  a  domi- 
?iion  over  the  whole  Christian  Church. 


(      5     ) 

But,  mdependently  on  this,  the  whole  question  turns  on  a 
fallacy,  by  too  rigid  an  application  of  a  word,  which  being 
taken  from  dealings  among  men,  and  here  connected  with 
dealings  of  God  to  men,  should  be  interpreted  on  the  same 
principle,  as  an  allusion  or  metaphor ;  in  regard  to  which,  it 
is  not  necessary  that  the  comparison  should  hold  in  many 
points ;  but  it  is  sufficient,  that  this  ground  of  comparison  be 
conspicuous  in  the  single  point  which  the  allusion  is  intended 
to  illustrate. 

Now,  the  property  of  the  Christian  ministry  especially  in 
view,  in  its  being  compared  to  an  embassy,  is  simply  its 
being  founded  on  the  appointment  of  another,  with  the  trust, 
the  dependence,  and  the  responsibility  involved  in  that  idea ; 
all  which  tend,  not  to  arrogance,  but  to  self  abasement. 

The  sentiment  that  it  is  under  the  appointment  of  another 
has  this  operation,  by  pointing  out  to  the  minister,  that  not 
his  own  glory,  but  his  Master's,  should  be  the  end  of  his 
ministry :  a  circumstance  always  to  be  kept  in  view,  while 
there  shall  be  those  infirmities  of  human  nature,  which  lead 
so  many  who  consider  the  peace  of  the  church  of  less  im- 
portance, than  the  pre-eminence  with  their  respective  par- 
ties J  and  with  the  most  plausible  and  imposing  pretensions, 
to  "  speak  perverse  things,  that  they  may  draw  away  disci- 
ples after  them." 

As  the  recollection  of  such  a  supereminent  authority  h^s 
the  effect  ascribed  to  it,  so  also  has  that  of  the  trust  thence 
derived  :  a  trust,  obliging  to  the  delivery  of  a  will  revealed ; 
than  which  nothing  more  effectually  imposes  restraint  on  the 
human  imagination ;  and  checks  natural  inclination  to  "  esta- 
blish for  doctrines  the  commandments  and  the  suggestions 
of  men." 

Of  the  same  important  use,  is  the  dependence  which  the 
doctrine  suggests ;  a  dependence  on  a  '*  strength  without 
which  we  can  do  nothing ;  and  which  is  to  be  made  perfect 
in  our  weakness." 


(     6     ) 

The  same  too  may  be  said  of  our  responsibility  to  God, 
concerning  what  is  fitly  called  a  stewardship,  which  we  must 
give  an  account  of;  and  talents,  of  which  we  must  render  the 
returns. 

All  these  things  are  included  in  the  comparison  of  the 
Christian  ministry  to  an  embassy ;  and  surely  they  must  all 
be  seen  as  motives  of  "  fear  and  trembling,"  and  not  as  in- 
ducements to  "  think  of  ourselves  more  highly  than  we 
ought  to  think." 

If,  after  all,  the  objection  should  be  directed  not  at  the 
name,  but  at  the  thing  referred  to  by  the  allusion;  not  at  the 
apprehension  of  assumed  importance  to  the  persons,  but  at 
the  deriving  of  the  authority  from  a  divine  source  ;  I  answer, 
that  this  is  to  be  defended  on  other  grounds;  being  a  claim 
founded  on  the  word  of  God,  and  not  to  be  relinquished 
without  a  desertion  of  our  station  and  of  our  trust. 

2.  And,  therefore,  I  remarked,  as  the  second  particular 
in  the  text,  the  commhsion  under  which  the  gosptl  ministry 
is  instituted. 

We  have  the  more  occasion  to  insist  on  this,  because  of 
two  opposite  errors,  of  vtry  mischievous  tendency. 

The  first  is  that  which  degrades  the  minist(.ri;d  office  to 
be  the  creriture  of  discretion,  and  altogether  subject  to  its 
operations.  For  there  are  some,  who,  acknowledging  the 
expediency  of  an  order  of  men  to  be  set  apart  for  this  pur- 
pose, yet  deny  that  it  is  any  thing  more ;  which  subjects  it 
to  human  will,  as  well  in  the  administration  of  the  sacra- 
ments as  in  discipline :  and  this  may  not  only  furnish  politi- 
cians with  pretexts  for  so  controling  the  gospel  by  tiie  force 
of  law,  as  to  mnke  it  subservient  to  wicked  purposes;  but  in 
a  variety  ol  ways,  mav  subject  the  most  important  interests 
of  the  Church  to  the  caprices  and  the  local  prejudices  of 
diose  who,  from  time  to  time,  bear  a  sway  in  her  concerns. 

The  other  error  is  the  setting  up  of  a  private  call  as  the 
gfround  of  ministerial  authority.     I'or  it  being  admitted  that 


I.  'i  ) 

this  is  the  way  in  which  the  minister  derives  his  commission 
to  occupy  himself  in  ecclesiastical  olfices ;  it  follows,  that  the 
higher  power  is  not  to  be  limited  by  the  lower;  and  so  fare- 
well to  all  obligation  of  ecclesiastical  determinations,  whe- 
ther for  the  regulating  of  public  prayer  and  preachings,  or  for 
the  governing  of  private  conduct. 

In  opposition  to  these  two  errors,  the  former  of  which 
will  alwa\s  have  an  alliance  with  infidelity,  and  the  latter 
with  fanatioism,  it  is  to  be  held  up  as  a  scriptural  truth,  that 
the  true  ground  of  a  right  to  exercise  the  ministry  is,  as  our 
Church  article  expresses  it,  "  the  being  called  and  chosen  to 
the  work  by  men  who  have  public  authority  given  unto  them 
in  the  congregation,  to  call  and  send  ministers  into  the  Lord's 
vineyard  :"  this  authority,  to  call  and  send,  knowing  of  no 
other  source  than  by  derivation  from^.the  authority  given  by 
our  blessed  Saviour  himself,  when  he  said  to  his  Apostles, 
"  As  my  Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you." 

None  will  deny  that  an  express  commission  was  given  to 
the  Apostles  themselves,  to  "  go  and  teach  all  nations,  bap- 
tizing them  in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost ;"  and  if  any  should  pretend,  that  the 
commission  was  restrained  to  them,  and  not  to  be  handed 
in  succession,  such  an  opinion  does  not  consist  with  the  pro- 
mise accompanying  the  command — "And,  lo,  I  am  with  yoii 
alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world !"  Which  implies, 
that  the  commission  was  not  to  them  only,  but  also  to  all 
who  should  come  after  them,  in  the  Ministry. 

So  it  was  understood  by  the  Apostles:  For  except  in  the 
case  of  Matthias,  who  was  divinety  designated  by  lot,  and 
in  that  of  St.  Paul,  v/ho  "  neither  received  the  gospel  of 
man,  neither  was  taught  it,  but  by  the  Revelation  of  Jesus 
Christ;"  all  admission  to  the  ministry  was  by  ordination;  as 
in  the  instance  of  Timothy,  who  is  said  to  have  been  re- 
ceived to  it  I)y  "  the  laying  on  of  the  Aposde's  hands."  And 
then,  for  indubitable  testimony,  that  the  power  of  ordination 


(     8     ) 

Was  to  go  further  than  the  hand  which  first  conveyed  it,  he 
tells  Timothy,  *'  the  things  which  thou  hast  heard  of  me, 
the  same  commit  thou  unto  faithful  men,  who  shall  be  abl^ 
to  teach  others  also."  And  in  like  manner  he  reminds  Titus 
— "  For  this  cause  left  I  thee  in  Crete,  that  thou  shouldest 
act  in  order  the  things  that  are  wanting,  and  ordain  elders  in 
every  city,  as  I  appointed  thee." 

In  short,  it  appears  that  a  succession  in  the  ministry  was 
provided  by  the  same  high  authority  which  first  declared  the 
gospel  itself.  Whether  in  that  succession  there  were  a  dis- 
parity, limiting  the  power  of  handing  it  down  to  an  order 
supereminent  to  the  others,  has  been  a  question  much  agi- 
tated ;  a  question  which  it  will  be  inconsistent  with  the  pre- 
sent limits  to  discuss ;  and  which,  therefore,  should  not  have 
been  mentioned,  were  it  not  that  the  very  cases  here  adduced 
of  Timothy  and  Titus,  are  actual  instances  of  there  being 
some  of  that  higher  order,  in  addition  to  the  Apostles 
themselves.  The  more  the  subject  is  canvassed,  the  more 
the  fact  will  be  evident,  of  there  never  having  been  a  period 
in  the  Christian  Church  without  an  order  of  the  clergy 
cloathed  with  certain  authorities,  including  this  of  ordina- 
tion, not  committed  to  the  other  orders. 

And  now,  if  this  circumstance  of  regular  admission  to 
the  ministry  were  matter  of  mere  form,  we  might  acknow- 
ledge that  no  extreme  danger  need  be  apprehended  from 
omitting  it,  however  ancient.  But  far  from  this,  it  will  be 
impossible  to  detach  it  from  its  duties,  so  as  to  give  up  the 
divine  appointment  of  the  former,  without  subjecting  the 
obligation  of  the  latter  to  be  lessened,  or  even  entirely  re- 
jected, as  changing;  interests  or  inclinations  may  prompt. 
When  the  Apostle  charges  Timothy,  "before  God  and  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  preach  llie  word,"  and  to  do  the  other 
duties  of  his  callir.g  ;  when,  in  another  place  he  tells  him — 
*^  O  Timothy,  keep  that  which  is  committed  to  thy  trust;" 
and  when  he  sav?  of  himself,  *'  a  dispensation  is  committe<< 


(      9      ) 

unto  me ;  and  woe  be  unto  me  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel ;" 
is  it  not  evident  that  these,  and  all  such  weighty  injunctions, 
presume  other  ground  than  the  ministry's  resting  on  mere 
opinion  of  usefulness  or  of  expediency ;  or  than  its  being  an 
occupation  to  be  engaged  m,  or  abandoned,  as  private  motives 
may  prompt  ?  Yes ;  they  are  connected  with  the  belief  of 
tliere  being  a  divine  commission,  given  in  the  infancy  of  the 
Church,  and  to  be  coeval  with  it ;  designating  a  certain  order 
of  men  who  are  empowered  and  enjoined  to  publish  the  gos- 
pel of  truth;  to  declare  and  defend  its  evidences;  to  open 
and  explain  its  doctrines  ;  to  press,  by  argument  and  by  per- 
suasion, its  precepts;  to  administer  its  ordinances;  and  to 
give  assurances  of  its  consolations.  All  this  is  scripture 
truth.  If  it  have  been  mixed  with  error,  it  becomes  us  to 
separate  the  chaff  from  the  wheat,  and  not  to  confound  and 
reject  the  whole.  If  some,  prompted  by  selfish  passions, 
have  "  preached  themselves,  and  not  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord ;" 
if  others,  by  personal  insolence,  have  **  lorded  it  over  God's 
heritage  ;"  and  if  an  enormous  power,  designated  in  scrip- 
ture, has  seated  itself  in  the  temple  of  God,  with  the  boast 
of  being  clothed  with  his  attributes,  the  way  to  counteract 
these  evils  is  not  to  give  up  the  ministrj^'s  divine  origin. 
On  the  contrary,  they  are  thus  the  more  confirmed  ;  because 
the  advocates  of  them  will  always  appeal  to  the  authorities 
v;hich  they  have  perverted  and  misapplied.  No;  let  the 
truth  be  declared,  as  deducible  from  scripture ;  and  this  can 
never,  by  fair  interpretation,  or  by  consequences  naturally 
arising  from  it,  justify  any  thing  unworthy  of  that  gospel, 
the  professed  object  of  which  is  to  promote  "  peace  and  good 
will  among  men." 

After  all;  whatever  there  subsists  of  divine  sanction  in 
the  ministerial  character  and  commission,  it  is  with  a  view 
to  and  for  the  enforcing  of  the  message  to  which  they  are 
attached. 


(      ^0     ) 

3.  And  to  state  to  you  the  Icnrllnj^  properties  of  this  ;;?«- 
i(agt\  was  to  be  the  third  head  of  this  discourse. 

Here,  before  we  enter  into  the  message  itself,  let  us  take 
notice  of  the  gracious  and  winning  nianner  in  which  it  is  to 
be  tendered.  Gospel  ministers  are  to  "  beseech  in  God's 
name,"  and  to  '*  pray  in  Christ's  stead."  God,  who  has  the 
supreme  right  to  command,  draws  his  creatures  with  the 
cords  of  love.  Christ,  to  whom. all  power  is  given  in  h(  aven 
and  in  earth,  yet  condescended,  in  the  days  of  his  flesh,  to 
invite  and  to  entreat.  Well,  therefore,  may  their  ministers 
appear  for  them  in  the  least  assuming  guise,  and  make  their 
appeal  to  the  affections.  For  the  treasure  is  to  pass  through 
earthen  vessels,  and  will  alwa}  s  be  in  danger  of  being  tinc- 
tured by  its  defilements.  The  message  is  to  be  delivered  by 
men,  and  may,  therefore,  be  hindered  by  their  frailties :  and 
it  is  even  well  if  it  meet  with  no  impediment  from  their 
passions.  Hence  they  have,  in  regard  to  some  duties  of 
their  ministry,  a  call  to  the  strictest  vigilance,  lest  they  dis- 
charge them  in  such  a  manner  as  to  show  that  "  they  know 
not  what  manner  of  spirit  they  are  of."  But  not  so  in  the 
leading  duty  of  all,  the  laying  open  of  the  offers  of  redeem- 
ing love;  the  laying  of  them  open  in  such  a  manner  as  is 
inconsistent  with  any  other  object  than  the  salvation  of  the 
persons  addressed  ;  and,  accordingly,  by  the  pressing  of  their 
duty  principally  by  such  motives  as  arc  a  call  on  their  grati- 
tude and  their  honour. 

It  is  true,  there  are  other  considerations  which  the  Chris- 
tian minister  is  to  bring  before  his  hearers :  for  the  laws  oi 
God  have  the  sanction  of  punishments  as  well  as  of  rewards; 
and  the  scriptures  direatcn  *•'  tribulation  and  anguish  to  every 
soul  of  man  that  docth  evil."  Yes  ;  this  is  the  way  in  which 
they  denounce  vice  ;  but  it  is  not  the  way  in  which  they  in- 
vite to  virtue,  to  that  holv  and  sul)rtmc  virtue  which  is  the 
essence  of  the  Christian  system.    'I'o  this,  the  uniform  mear 


(    n    ) 

in  scripture  is  persuasion;  and,  accordingly,  the  very  mes= 
sage  put  into  the  mouths  of  the  ministers  of  the  gospel,  in 
the  very  place  too  where  it  was  intended  to  delineate  the 
most  descriptive  trait  of  their  office,  is,  '*  as  though  God  did 
beseech  you  by  us ;  and  we  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead.'* 

If  from  this  we  go  on  to  the  consideration  of  the  message 
itself,  the  first  particular  occurring  is,  that  reconciliation  sup- 
poses preceding  enmity.  And  here  it  may  seem  absurd,  that 
an  individual  of  the  whole  race  of  mankind,  much  less  that 
all  of  them,  in  their  natural  state,  should  be  represented  as 
bearing  an  hatred  to  God  ;  to  that  good  Being  *'  who  holdeth 
our  feet  in  life ;"  who  '^  giveth  us  all  things  to  enjoy ;"  at 
whose  word  arose  the  whole  beautiful  frame  of  the  universe, 
by  whose  providence  it  is  preserved,  and  by  whose  presence 
it  is  blest.  My  brethren,  this  is  not  the  meaning  j  as  if  the 
being,  or  the  perfections,  or  the  works  of  God,  were  objects 
of  disapprobation  or  disesteem  with  many :  but  the  tone  of 
the  sentiment  consists  in  an  alienation  from  his  image,  and  a 
repugnancy  to  his  laws.  He  is  essentially  holy;  and,  there- 
fore, every  thing  impure  is  opposed  to  his  perfections.  Be- 
nevolence is  his  most  distinguished  attribute ;  and,  of  course, 
injurious  and  uncharitable  dispositions  are  a  defacing  of  that 
likeness,  which  all  moral  agents  should  bear  to  him,  their 
great  original.  It  is  a  duty  stamped  on  our  condition  of 
creatures,  to  be  grateful  for  his  mercies,  and  continually  to 
feel  and  to  confess  our  dependence  on  his  good  providence ; 
and,  accordingly,  our  reluctance  to  all  this  implies  a  contrast 
to  his  amiable  nature.  Now,  when  the  scriptures  speak  of 
us  as  being  naturally  at  enmity  with  God,  it  is  partly  on  ac- 
count of  the  breach  of  the  original  condition  of  our  creation  ; 
and  partly  because  of  that  repugnancy  to  good,  and  that  bias 
to  evil,  with  which  we  were  born ;  and  which,  unless  cor- 
rected and  restrained  by  divine  grace,  evidences  itself  in 
neglect,  discontent,  and  rebellion  towards  Godj   in   envy, 


(      12     ) 

hatred  and  injuries  to  our  fellow  creatures;  and  in  sensual 
depravity  and  excess.  And  herein  consists  the  renovating 
influence  of  Christianity ;  that,  to  destroy  the  bitter  fruit  of 
this  deadly  tree,  it  does  not  prune  the  branches,  but  corrects 
it  at  the  root;  that,  to  recover  men  from  a  state  of  sin,  it  first 
destroys  that  enmity  against  God,  which  is  its  origin  and  its 
support. 

Hence  the  reconciliation  spoken  of  in  the  text ;  that  is, 
submission,  penitence,  and  the  beginning  of  reformation,  on 
the  part  of  man  ;  and  on  the  part  of  God,  pardon,  accept- 
ance, and  the  covenanted  aids  of  grace ;  all  through  the 
atoning  merits  of  Christ,  than  whom  "  there  is  none  other 
name  given  under  heaven,  wherebv  we  can  be  saved."  This 
is  the  high  and  leading  sense  of  revelation,  on  which  hang 
all  its  truths,  its  promises,  and  its  obligations.  Accordingly, 
the  Apostle,  just  before  the  text,  had  declared,  •"'  God  was 
in  Christ,"  that  is,  manifesting  himself  by.  this  Son  of  his 
love — ''  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself,"  meaning,  by 
his  acceptance  of  the  atonement  offered  for  it.  Reconcilia- 
tion being  thus  offered  by  the  party  where  sovereignty  had 
been  offended,  the  Aposde  might  well  make  the  Gospel 
message  to  consist  in  an  invitation  to  the  oflcnder,  to  be  re- 
conciled unto  God  by  a  renouncing  of  the  ground  of  oflfence, 
in  opposition  to  his  transcendent  goodness. 

Having  availed  ourselves  of  the  ground  of  reconciliation 
thus  given,  we  become  reconciled  to  the  attributes  of  C'od ; 
even  in  the  relation  in  which  we  stand  to  them ;  reconciled 
to  his  holiness,  to  his  omniscience,  and  to  his  moral  govern- 
ment ;  all  which,  however  amiable  in  themselves,  are  con- 
templated by  us  in  a  state  of  alienation  and  enmity,  as  being 
full  of  terror  and  of  danger. 

We  become  reconciled  also  to  his  laws.  These,  however, 
in  themselves  holy,  just  and  good,  are,  to  the  natural  man, 
forbidding  and   severe.     But   not  so  when   we  have  been 


(     13     ) 

^'  brought  near  to  God  by  the  blood  of  the  cross ;"  for  then 
his  service  is  perfect  freedom  ;  and  all  that  he  requires  is  not 
more  our  duty  than  our  happiness. 

And  we  are  reconciled  to  the  dispensations  of  his  provi- 
dence ;  the  severer  of  which  will  always  be  occasions  of 
murmur  or  of  despondency  ;  until,  being  contemplated  as  the 
visitations  of  a  Father,  they  are  taken  in  connection  with  their 
intended  use,  of  bringing  us  nearer  and  nearer  to  himself. 

Such  is  the  reconciliation  spoken  of:  and  as  it  implied 
a  retrospect  to  a  past  state  of  enmity,  so  it  also  looks  for- 
ward to  a  future  living  in  that  "  peace  with  God  which 
passeth  all  understanding."  Instead  of  a  state  of  rebellion 
against  him,  there  succeeds  another  warfare,  the  weapons 
of  which  are  "  mighty  to  the  pulling  down  of  the  strong 
holds  of  sin  within  us."  That  mercy  which  has  "  relieved 
us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,"  does  not  dispense  with  obe- 
dience to  it  in  future ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  binds  us  to  it 
by  new  obligations  and  by  extraordinary  promises. 

The  gospel  message  being  thus  opened,  I  will  take  occa- 
sion, before  I  apply  it  to  the  present  circumstance  of  our 
being  assembled,  to  tender  it  to  all  who  can  be  supposed  the 
objects  of  it.  You,  if  there  be  any  present,  who  have  never 
been  within  Christ's  visible  fold !  you  too,  of  whom  a 
stranger  may  presume  that  there  are  some  who  have  been 
brought  within  it  by  the  rite  of  baptism,  but  have  denied  its 
obligation  by  a  life  of  sin !  "  to  you  is  the  word  of  this 
^Ivation  sent."  We  contemplate  you,  for  so  we  are  re- 
quired by  the  oracles  of  God,  as  in  a  state  of  alienation  from 
him.  Yet  we  address  you,  not  in  the  threatnings  of  Sinai, 
but  in  the  persuasive  voice  of  gospel  love.  '^  We  beseech 
you  in  God's  behalf,  we  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye 
reconciled  unto  God."  Be  ye  reconciled  to  him,  by  re- 
nouncing whatever  is  offensive  to  his  holy  eye ;  by  giving  up 
your  hearts  to  the  inspirations,  and  your  actions  to  the  guid- 


t  H.  ) 

ance  ol  his  spirit;  by  making  a  worthy  profession  of  his 
name,  and  by  living  as  the  heirs  of  a  belter  world. 

'Jo  my  Clerical  Brethren,  now  making  a  part  of  our  assem- 
bled General  Convention,  I  will  take  the  opportunity  of  sug- 
gesting the  improvement  of  the  doctrine — that  the  principal 
property  of  their  office  is  its  being  entrusted  with  the  minis- 
try of  reconciliation ;  that  is,  with  the  drawing  of  nrven  to  it 
by  persuasion,  and  the  sealing  of  it  to  them  by  the  sacra- 
ments. 

For  with  us,  my  Reverend  Brethren,  as  vou  know,  the 
principal  field  of  labour  is  not  that  referred  to  in  the  text,  in 
the  strict  and  obvious  letter  of  it — the  proclaiming  of  the  good 
news  of  grace  to  persons  who,  by  the  condition  of  their  birth, 
have  been  "  strangers  to  the  covenants  of  promise,  and  with- 
out God  in  the  w^orld  ;"  but  it  is  partly  to  cherish  the  Chris- 
lian  state  of  persons  who  have  been  brought  to  Chribt  in 
baptismal  regeneration ;  and  partly  to  recover  to  grace  those 
who  have  fallen  from  it ;  being  '■^  taken  in  the  snare  of  the 
devil,  and  led  captive  by  him  at  his  will."  These  are  a 
work  of  greater  difficulty  than  the  other,  as  must  be  per- 
ceived on  an  attention  to  the  common  impediment  of  both, 
which  is  the  corruption  of  the  human  heart,  resisting  alike 
an  admission  of  the  evidences  of  tl^  gosjiel,  and  a  submis- 
sion to  its  guidance.  The  former,  however,  mav  find  oj>- 
j)ortunitles  in  moments  of  cool  reflection,  or  in  these  of  a 
l^roper  view  of  the  unsiUisfying  enjoyments  of  ihe  world, 
or  of  sensibility  to  the  despotic  tvr.mny  of  sin.  But  to 
persuade  men  to  walk  in  that  continual  fear  of  God,  which 
alone  can  secure  against  the  temptations  meeting  them  in 
all  the  enp;agcmcnts  of  life;  and  this  not  always  in  the  open 
danger  of  avowed  hoslilitv,  but  sometimes  in  the  deceitful 
guise  of  pretended  friendship  ;  and  not  this  only,  but  occa- 
sionally under  the  lalse  -ippei'Tances  of  duty,  by  which  satan 
•5  said  to  *'  transform  himself  into  an  angel  of  light ;"   in 


(      15     ) 

short,  to  aid  our  hearers  in  a  warfare,  the  formidable  nature 
of  which  is  strikingly  figured  to  us  by  an  Apostle,  when  he 
describes  it  as  calling  for  "  the  girdle  of  truth,  the  breast- 
plate of  righteousness,  the  sandals  of  peace,  the  helmet  of 
salvation,  and  the  sword  of  the  spirit" — This  is  a  work  to 
be  aimed  at  in  our  discoiu'ses  from  the  pulpit,  and  in  such 
private  advice  as  opportunity  may  be  given  for;  which  can 
be  exceeded  in  difficulty  only  by  that  other  branch  of  our 
ministry  referred  to,  the  calling  of  sinners  back,  through  the 
pains  of  repentance,  to  the  mercies  from  which  they  have 
wandered.  For,  Brethren,  we  justly  complain  of  being  mis- 
understood by  those  who,  from  the  doctrine  of  our  Church 
of  being  in  grace  in  baptism,  infer  that  we  make  light  of  the 
repentance  dive  from  those  hosts  of  baptized  sinners  who  live 
continually  exposed  to  the  judgments  of  God ;  the  more  so 
from  having  been  within  his  holy  covenant,  and  from  having 
rejected  the  benefits  pledged  on  his  part,  and  the  stipulations 
made  on  theirs.  The  scriptures  observe  a  manifest  distinc- 
tion between  persons  of  this  description,  and  those  to  whom 
the  word  of  salvation  is  in  the  first  instance  sent.  These 
are,  indeed,  called  to  repentance,  the  essence  of  which  is  a 
change  of  mind  ;  and  this  will  always  imply  sorrow  for  sin  ; 
because,  "  what  man  is  there  who  liveth  and  sinneth  not?" 
But  when  the  same  scriptures  speak  of  sinning  after  grace 
received,  they  contemplate  it  as  quite  another  subject.  It 
is  then  "  the  crucifying  of  the  Son  of  God  afresh,  and  the 
putting  of  him  to  an  open  shame,"  It  is  then  declared  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  to  "  renew  them  again  to  repentance,"  on 
account  of  the  impossibility  of  any  new  motives  to  that  effect; 
which  I  take  to  be  the  sense  of  the  impossibility  spoken  of 
in  the  passage  here  alluded  to.  And  there  is  then  held  our 
to  them  in  awful  warning,  that  "  there  remaineth  no  more 
sacrifice  for  sin  ;"  meaning  no  other  besides  that  which  tliev 
have  ceased  to  look  to ;  and  to  which  the^•  would  of  course 


(  10  ) 

be  more  reluctant  to  rctum,  than  to  lay  hold  of  some  new 
hope,  if  any  such  there  were,  not  subjecting  them  to  shame 
and  self-reproach  for  past  apostac}'. 

This  being  their  deplorable  condition,  let  us  not  judge  so 
strictly  of  the  persuasion  with  which  the  gospel  is  armed  in 
the  point  of  view  in  which  it  is  exiiibited  in  the  text ;  as  if 
there  were  not  that  other  point  of  view  alluded  to  bv  the 
same  Apostle,  where  he  says — *^  Knowing  the  terrors  of  the 
Lord,  we  persuade  men."  And  there  is  something  well 
deserving  our  attention  in  the  manner  in  which  these  more 
awful  motives  are  here  stated,  as  to  be  addressed  bv  us  to  the 
conscience,  i'hey  may  be  so  improperly  brought  forward, 
as  if  the  authority  on  which  they  rest  were  principally  that  of 
the  speaker ;  and  as  if  his  dignity  were  offeuded,  and  his 
control  resisted,  by  a  disregard  of  the  dreadful  penalty  dis- 
played. But,  says  the  Apostle,  we  know,  and,  as  is  im- 
plied, we  preach  the  terrors  of  the  Loid  ;  yet  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  shows  that  not  ourselves  in  anv  shape,  but  our  hearers 
and  their  best  interests  are  the  object.  And  this  is  a  dis- 
tinction which  is  well  exemplified  to  us  in  a  well  known  ex- 
hortation attached  to  one  of  the  offices  of  our  Church,  in 
which,  after  the  public  reader  of  it  has  set  before  delinquents 
the  awful  judgments  of  an  offended  God,  yet  this  hinders 
him  not  from  afterwards  *M:)idding  them  in  the  name  of  God, 
from  calling  them  in  Christ's  behalf,  and  from  exhorting 
them  as  they  love  their  own  salvation,"  to  the  opposite  of 
what  had  been  so  fearfully  set  before  them. 

But,  Brethren,  in  respect  to  this  and  every  other  branch 
of  the  ministerial  duty,  there  will  be  no  danger  of  falling 
short,  if  our  consciences  be  duly  impressed  by  what  the 
text  more  directly  sets  before  us,  so  as  that  it  shall  recur 
frequend}  ar.d  ahva}  s  when  dutv  is  at  stake — It  is  the  trust, 
the  dependence,  the  responsibilitv  characteristic  of  our 
ministerial   calling.     In  how  many  ways   did  our  blessed 


(  ly  ) 

Saviour  vary  this  very  sentiment,  in  order  to  present  it  con- 
^nually  to  our  recollection?  In  one  place,  it  is  a  talent, 
given  to  trade  with:  in  another,  it  is  a  stewardship,  of  which 
an  account  is  to  be  rendered :  and,  in  another,  it  is  a  mis- 
sion to  compel  men,  doubtless  by  the  suitable  means  of  con- 
viction and  persuasion,  to  come  within  the  Gospel  pale.  If 
in  our  Lord's  commission  to  his  Apostles,  and  in  their  mea- 
sures under  it,  there  were  any  room,  as  indeed  there  is  not, 
to  balance  on  the  question  of  a  divine  designation  of  the  Mi- 
nistry and  a  Succession  under  it,  the  matter  might  be  deter- 
mined by  what  have  been  here  referred  to,  of  preceding  de- 
clarations ;  showing  it  to  have  been  an  object  in  contempla- 
tion from  the  beginning.  It  is  indeed  surprising,  that  any, 
who  acknowledge  the  reasonableness  and  the  utility  of  an  in- 
stituted Ministry,  should  not  perceive  at  once  the  propriety 
of  resting  it  on  the  ground  here  taken,  rather  than  on  the 
will  of  man ;  whether  as  the  dictate  of  expediency,  agree- 
ably to  some,  or  as  of  personal  persuasion,  agreeably  to 
others:  the  one  making  all  duty  dependent  on  present 
feeling,  and  the  other  moulding  the  work  after  the  change- 
able standard  of  human  opinion  or  caprice.  But  if  the  case 
have  been  provided  for,  by  an  authority  infinitely  higher, 
and  by  a  directory  far  more  explicit — what  stable  ground  of 
obligation  is  there  to  the  duties  of  the  Christian  Ministry, 
when  we  are  invited  to  them  by  an  Apostle,  where  he  savs 
-— "  I  charge  thee  before  God  and  the  elect  Angels;"  by  an- 
other Apostle,  in  the  address,  '*  the  Elders  among  you  I 
exhort,  who  am  also  an  Elder ;"  and  by  our  Lord  in  person, 
where  he  admonishes-.—"'  Let  your  loins  be  girded  about  and 
your  lights  burning."  In  these,  and  in  many  similar  inti- 
mations, our  duties  come  to  us  with  an  authority,  with  which 
no  human  law  can  clothe  them,  and  widi  a  certainty  which 
no  self-persuasion  can  ensure. 

However,  therefore.  Brethren,  the  sentiment  may  have 

3 


(     18     ) 

been  disgraced  by  some,  and  however,  on  this  account,  it 
may  appear  in  a  suspicious  shape  to  others,  let  there  be  no 
hesitation  in  any  Clergyman  to  claim  to  his  office  the  title  of 
heavenly  origin,  which  will  tlie  more  impress  him  with  the 
sense  of  the  account  he  is  to  render  of  his  stewardship. 

If^  however,  under  a  charge  which  should  make  him  litde 
in  his  own  eyes,  he  should  be,  as  the  Apostle  says,  "  vainly 
puffed  up  with  his  fleshly  mind  ;"  it  is  one  of  the  ways  in 
which  *^  that  which  should  be  for  men's  health  becomes  to 
them  an  occasion  of  falling."  And  in  this  event,  dreadful 
will  be  the  issue.  For  as  the  Angels  who  *'  kept  not  their 
estate  appointed  to  them,"  are  "  reserved  to  the  judgment 
of  the  great  day  ;"  so  we  may  well  look  for  the  same  to  those 
who  make  a  sacred  character  a  covering  for  passions  the  most 
opposed  to  the  graces  which  it  was  given  to  inculcate.  Some 
frailties  are  so  imposing  in  their  nature,  that  it  is  difficult  to 
judge  how  far  they  may  conceal  themselves  from  a  mind 
otherwise  assimilated  to  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel.  But  pride, 
and  especially  pride  founded  on  the  clerical  character,  is  what 
seems  to  Imply  an  entif^  absence  of  its  holy  influence  ;  and 
the  practice  of  the  person  tainted  with  it  will  be  a  contradic- 
tion of  the  most  important  instructions  which  it  will  be  his 
duty  to  deliver. 

Be  assured,  Brethren,  that  in  being  far  removed  from  this 
dark  and  depraved  spirit,  you  will  give  one  of  the  best  proofs 
of  your  being  worthy  servants  of  that  Master,  who  was 
"  meek  and  lowly  in  heart,"  and  who,  though  in  his  pre- 
existcnt  dignity  divine,  ^et,  for  the  example  of  all  mankind, 
"made  himself  of  no  reputation,  and  toqj:  upon  him  the  form 
of  a  ser\'ant,  humbling  himself,  and  becoming  obedient  unto* 
death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross." 

As  well  to  my  Lay  Brethren  of  the  Convention  as  to  thd 
Clerical,  1  will  take  tlie  opportunity  of  mentioning,  that  while 
J  have  been  engaged  in  opening  the  session  at  their  desire. 


(  ly  ) 

thei*e  has  often  recurred  to  me  the  painful  recollection,  that 
I  am  supplying  the  place  of  a  deceased  brother,*  in  the  dis- 
charge of  a  duty  undertaken  by  him,  at  our  last  triennial  meet* 
ing.  If  from  present  health  and  strength  there  were  any  con* 
tinuance  of  them  to  be  counted  on,  little  could  it  at  that  time 
have  been  supposed,  by  those  of  us  who  beheld  him  entering 
on  the  Episcopacy,  and  who  entertained  expectations  justi- 
fied by  known  talents  and  an  established  reputation,  that  he 
was  so  soon  to  be  removed  from  his  works  to  his  reward. 
My  first  acquaintance  with  him,  except  that  of  correspon- 
dence held  some  short  time  before,  was  nearly  twenty-three 
years  ago,  at  the  first  Convention  held  for  the  organizing  of 
our  Church.  My  opinion  formed  of  him  on  that  occasion, 
and  confirmed  by  whatever  I  have  since  known  of  him,  was 
iis  possessing  of  a  capacity  much  above  the  common  standard ; 
.  and  his  being  furnished,  as  with  all  the  endowments  which 
could  qualify  him  to  serve  the  Church,  so  especially  with  that 
which  the  crisis  of  her  situation  particularly  called  for-^a  de- 
termination of  mind  equally  resisting  innovation  in  whatever 
could  be  deemed  essential  to  her  system;  yet  conforming  to 
cxistbg  circumstances,  in  matters  confessedly  subject  to  dis- 
cretion. And  besides  this,  there  was  something  in  his  de- 
portment, in  whatever  was  interesting  to  iha  Church,  which 
forbade  all  apprehension  of  there  being  any  reference  to  self. 
Doubdess,  all  who  knew  him  counted  on  his  filling  of  his 
new  station  with  dignity,  and  with  benefit  to  the  Church. 
But  the  ways  of  God,  although  unsearchable,  must  be  wise : 
and  while  we  bow  in  submission  to  his  sovereign  will,  I  am 
confident  that  all  m^  Episcopal  brethren  will  join  me  in  the 
♦sentiment,  that  the  greater  the  loss  of  the  Church  in  the  de- 
cease of  oyr  respected  brother,  the  more  desirable  to  those 
who  remain  will  be  the  prayers  of  their  Clerical  and  thevr 

*  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Parker,  of  Massachusetts, 


r 


cs* 


.  J> 


•>.'^' 


3'^^ 


'*i^^- 


V;jj?yfe' 


